Mower drawbar connection



Aug. 3, 1966 J. F. ENGLER MOWER DRAWBAR CONNECTION 2 Sheets-Sheet 1Original Filed Nov.

Mafia f [fig/er INVENTOR.

A TTOR/Vf) Aug. 23, 1966 J. F. ENGLER 3,267,651

I MOWER DRAWBAR CONNECTION Original Filed Nov. 5, 1960 2 Sheets-Sheet 2INVENTOR.

United States Patent 3,267,651 MOWER DRAWBAR CONNECTION John F. Engler,Engler Mfg. Corp, R0. Box 7616, Houston, Tex.

Original application Nov. 3, 1960, Ser. No. 66,967. Divided and thisapplication July 10, 1963, Ser. No. 294,107

4 Claims. (Cl. 56-6) This application is a division of co-pendingapplication Serial Number 66,967, filed November 3, 1960.

This invention pertains generally to mechanical apparatus andparticularly to apparatus used in conjunction with surface vehicles.

Frequently, surface vehicles such as tractors, have attached theretoapparatus such as a mower similar to the mower disclosed in my US.Patent 2,952,961, issued September 20, 1960, and my pending application820,413, filed June 15, 1959, and now abandoned. Usually the movementand effectiveness of the attached apparatus is directly related to themovement of the tractor.

In the usual construction, the tractor and mower are rigidly connectedtogether, so that when the tractor crosses a ditch or other depressionin the terrain it pulls the mower down with it, so that the blades diginto the ground, causing damage to the blades and power transmissionapparatus, as well as greatly increasing the power required to operatethe mower.

In practicing the invention, a drawbar having resilient means attachedthereto is flexibly connected between a surface vehicle such as atractor and traction apparatus such as a mower. The resilient meansinclude adjustable means which may provide a particular setting which isabove the normal setting above the ground for the mower. Slight verticalmovement of the tractor is smoothed out by the resilient means, therebygiving the drawbar a floating effect and providing stabilized operationto the traction apparatus. The drawbar and resilient means are durable,economical, compact, and effective in reducing the downward thrust ofthe mower on the blades when the rear wheels of the tractor cross adepression in the terrain so that the front of the mower is depressedand the blades come in contact with the ground or obstructions on theground. Thus, time-consuming equipment breakdowns are minimized.

In the drawings:

FIGURE 1 is a side view of a tractor pulling a mower having a drawbarattachment wherein the invention is incorporated;

FIGURE 2 is a front view of the mower of FIGURE 1, taken along line 2-2of FIGURE 1;

FIGURE 3 is a plan and partial sectional view of the resilient meansutilized in the invention;

FIGURE 4 is a sectional view taken along lines 44 of FIGURE 3; and

FIGURE 5 is a plan view of the drawbar attachment shown in FIGURES 1 and2.

Referring in more detail to the drawings, FIGURE 1 shows a surfacevehicle such as a tractor having traction apparatus such as a mowercoupled thereto through drawbar 30 and driveshaft 40. Tractor 10 mayhave a plurality of wheels similar to wheel 11. Mower 20 includes wheels21 and 23. Driveshaft 40 may be coupled in a known manner between themower 20 and power take-off 12 of tractor 10. Projection 14 on tractor10 is coupled to drawbar 30 which is pivotally coupled to ears 22projecting from platform 24 on mower 20. Resilient means 50 are coupledto drawbar 30 and platform 24 of mower 20 and such coupling will beexplained subsequently in more detail.

Mower 20 may have a plurality of blades 26 which cut grass, weeds, orother growth. In FIGURE 1 tractor 10 "ice is moving over ground whichhas a lower elevation than the ground over which mower 20 is passing. Inaccordance with the invention, resilient means and the pivotalconnection allow pivotal movement of the drawbar 30 with respect to themower 20.

As will be seen from FIGURE 2, the mower to which the drawbar of thisinvention is preferably attached is a segmented mower, having a centralsection 13 supported by rear wheels 21, and two side sections 16supported by hinges 15 and side wheels 23. It will be noted that,because of the flexible connection provided by hinges 15, side wheels 23provide no support for center section 13. Thus the entire weight of thecenter section is supported by the rear wheels 21 and the drawbar 30,and when the drawbar is lowered, as when the tractor crosses terrain oflower elevation than that traversed by wheels 21, the front of the moweris lowered, so that cutting blades 26 contact the ground. However, thepivotal, resilient connection of the drawbar prevents the weight of thetractor from bearing upon the front of the mower, so that there is lessdownward thrust exerted upon the blades.

FIGURE 3 is a plan and partial sectional view of resilient means 50shown in FIGURES 1 and 2. Drawbar 30 having lips 32 and 33 is pivotallycoupled by dowel pin 34 to threaded member 52 which is disposed inhollow cylinder housing or piston 56. Cylinder housing 56 passes throughbushing 58 which is fitted in the central portion of clevis 60.

A threaded adjustment nut 62 provides positioning of hollow cylinderhousing 56 with respect to threaded member 52. Spring 64 is intermediatethe nut 62 and lower face 59 of bushing 58 and the compressive forceapplied to spring 64 is varied with force applied on nut 62 and cylinderhousing 56. Collar 66 which has a set screw 68 is positioned near theend of cylinder housing 56 to limit movement thereof. On the other endof cylinder housing 56 is a grease fitting 70 through which lubricantmay be provided to cylinder housing 56.

Clevis 60 which includes flanges 61 and 63 is connected pivotally byfasteners such as bolts 72 and 73 to support members or ears 54 andwhich are rigidly mounted on platform 24 of the mower as shown in FIGURE2. Pivot bushings 74 and 75 pass through apertures in ears 54 and 55 andflanges 61 and 63. Flat washers 76 and 77 are positioned on each end ofbushing 74 and flat washers 78 and 79 are positioned on each end ofbushing 75 thereby providing pivotal movement of flanges 61 and 63 ofclevis relative to ears 54 and 55. Pivotal movement of flanges 61 and 63allows cylinder housing 56 to have smoother movement within bushing 58during extreme movements of drawbar 30.

FIGURE 4 is a sectional view taken along line 44 of FIGURE 3. Threadedmember 52 is disposed within cylindrical space 57 formed by the wall ofcylinder housing 56. Rotation of cylinder housing 56 causes threadedadjustment nut 62 to move on threaded member 52 and vary the positioningof drawbar 30 relative to the ears mounted on the mower platform.Rotation of housing 56 provides slight elevation above the normalcutting level of the mower. This adjustment is made prior tocommencement of the mowing operation.

Thus when drawbar 30 has vertical movement, cylinder housing 56 moveswithin bushing 58 and spring 64 thereby providing a cushioning orfloating efl'ect on the mower through drawbar 30. Collar 66 acts as astop for downward movement of cylinder housing 56 and the resiliency ofspring 64 limits the upward movement.

FIGURE 5 is a plan view of the drawbar 30 showing the pivot-a1 couplingthereof to cars 22, 25, 27 and 31 and to resilient means 50 and 51 onmower platform 24. Member 31 is used to couple the center point ofdrawbar to the tractor and driveshaft 40 is coupled to power unit 411for actuating the blades of the mower in a manner disclosed in my patentand my application re ferred to previously. Resilient means 50 and 51are identical and provide cushioning for the mower as explainedpreviously. FIGURE 5 illustrates the pivotal coupling of clevis 6t tocars 54 and 55 which are rigidly mounted on platform 24. Resilient1321115 51 has a similar coupling arrangement.

Thus, the invention provides a drawbar of fork member which may bepivotally coupled to a traction device such as a mowing machine. Thedrawbar also is connected through resilient means to a platform on themower so that when the drawbar is pulled by a surface vehicle such as atractor, a cushioning or floating effect is provided on the mower. ifthe tractor crosses a ditch or other depression in the terrain, thepivotal connection and the resilient means prevent the weight of thetractor from hearing on the front of the mower, so that the downwardmovement of the tractor does not force a corresponding downward movementof the mower, beyond that caused by the weight of the mower itself.Except for the pivotal connection and the resilient means, the weight ofthe tractor would bear on the front of the mower and cause the mowerblades to dig in. The resilient means greatly decrease this tendency, sothat the mower blades are not pulled into the ground. If the mowerblades come in contact with the ground the downward thrust of the mowerthereon is reduced, thereby reducing machinery breakdowns and providingstability to the mowing operation.

While a preferred embodiment of the invention has been shown anddescribed many modifications thereof can be made by one skilled in theart without departing from the spirit of the invention and it is desiredto cover by Letters Patent all forms of the invention falling within thescope of the following claims.

I claim:

1. A moving machine comprising a platform,

mower cutter means suspended beneath said platform,

support means on said platform for supporting said cutter means aboveground level,

a drawbar,

means pivotally coupling said drawbar to said platform at a pointforward of said support means for relative movement in a vertical plane,

a clevis member pivotally mounted on said platform forward of thedrawbar connection,

an aperture in said clevis,

a rod attached to said drawbar and extending upwardly through saidaperture, and

means engaging said rod and said clevis adapted to allow reduceddownward movement of said platform upon downward pivoting of saiddrawbar so as to decrease the engagement of the cutter means with theground.

2. A mowing machine as defined by claim the last-named means comprisesresilient m ans.

wherein 3. A mowing machine comprising a platform having front and rearends,

support means adjacent the rear end of said platform,

a drawbar extending forwardly from said platform,

mower cutter means normally suspended above the ground level beneathsaid platform,

means pivotally coupling said drawbar to said platform at a pointforwardly of said support means for relative movement in a verticalplane,

a clevis pivotally mounted on said platform forwardly of the drawbarconnection,

an aperture in said clevis,

a rod attached to said drawbar and extending upwardly through saidaperture, and

resilient means bearing upwardly on said clevis and downwardly on saidrod,

whereby said drawbar normally supports the front end of the platform sothat the cutter means are above ground level, and allows upward pivotingof the platform with respect to the drawbar when the drawbar is pivoteddownwardly far enough for the cutter means to dig into the ground.

A mowing machine comprising a platform having front and rear ends,

support means adjacent the rear end of said platform,

a drawbar extending forwardly from said platform,

mower cutter means normally suspended above the ground level beneathsaid platform, e-ans pivotally coupling said drawbar to said platform ata point forwardly of said support means for relative movement in avertical plane,

a clevis pivotally mounted on said platform forwardly of the drawbarconnection,

an aperture in said clevis,

a rod attached to said drawbar and extending upwardly through saidaperture, and

means engaging said rod and said clevis to normally support the frontend of the platform so that the cutter means is above the ground, andadapted to provide some support for the platform when the drawbar ispivoted downwardly far enough for the cutter means to hit the ground.

References tilted by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,706,879 4/1955Barrentine 56-254 2,710,514 6/ i955 Broussard 56-254 2,719,393 16/1955BowersoX 172-678 2,743,567 5/ 1956 Martin 56-6 2,944,614 7/1960 Shipp172-678 ANTONIO F. GUIDA, Acting Primary Examiner.

A. G. STONE, T. GRAHAM CRAVER, RUSSELL R.

KTNSEY, Examiners.

l. O. BOLT, Assistant Examiner.

1. A MOVING MACHINE COMPRISING A PLATFORM, MOWER CUTTER MEANS SUSPENDED BENEATH SAID PLATFORM, SUPPORT MEANS ON SAID PLATFORM FOR SUPPORTING SAID CUTTER MEANS ABOVE GROUND LEVEL, A DRAWBAR, MEANS PIVOTALLY COUPLING SAID DRAWBAR TO SAID PLATFORM AT A POINT FORWARD OF SAID SUPPORT MEANS FOR RELATIVE MOVEMENT IN A VERTICAL PLANE, A CLEVIS MEMBER PIVOTALLY MOUNTED ON SAID PLATFORM FORWARD OF THE DRAWBAR CONNECTION, AN APERTURE IN SAID CLEVIS, A ROD ATTACHED TO SAID DRAWBAR AND EXTENDING UPWARDLY THROUGH SAID APERTURE, AND MEANS ENGAGING SAID ROD AND SAID CLEVIS ADAPTED TO ALLOW REDUCED DOWNWARD MOVEMENT OF SAID PLATFORM UPON DOWNWARD PIVOTING OF SAID DRAWBAR SO AS TO DECREASE THE ENGAGEMENT OF THE CUTTER MEANS WITH THE GROUND. 